The Morbids

In the beginning only a dozen ships were sited, flying low across the failing light of the night sky but still the objects were clearly visible to the naked eye. Aircraft were immediately scrambled to intercept the unidentified aircraft as soon as they appeared as blips on a radar screen but they were travelling so fast that within a few minutes they simply disappeared into the stars above. Over the next seven days it became a regular occurrence to see the saucers skimming across the top of the clouds. At first it was only occurring late in the day or early evening but gradually there were more and more sightings during daylight hours over towns, over cities and even villages across the globe. Everyone was seeing the same thing. Eveyrone was talking about the same thing. Every newspaper was writing about the same thing. There was no doubt about it, aliens did exist. As government after government denied any connection with the visitors, as they came to be called, and millions of voices across the world said ‘I told you so’ to husbands, wives, and colleagues, there was a growing sense of foreboding. In fact, anyone who had ever thought aliens were figments of the imagination were now people being driven to distraction trying to find some excuse, some ordinary explanation to explain what was occurring in the skies above, and failing miserably in the attempt. Aliens were here and the whole human race had to get used to it. But would they be friendly? The earth was doomed.

And then it happened. The aliens made contact. Not through firing ray guns or destroying cities but by sending a solitary craft down to planet earth and landing it on the lawn of the white house. Where else would it land.

Immediately the craft was surrounded by security teams, air force men, and Secret Service agents. Everyone wanted to get to see the craft at close quarters and six thousand troops had to be deployed around the grounds to stop people climbing the gates for a closer look. After all, no one really knew what would happen next but half a million people could not wait to find out.

The craft was small, cylindrical and not more than thirty feet in diameter. Its silver grey metallic exterior gave a kind of hazy glow and below its flat underbelly seemed to be an energy field that kept it floating two feet off the ground.

"let’s blast the thing!" growled one airforce officer who was promptly relieved of his command by the general standing next to him.

"The last thing we need is an intergalactic war you idiot!" said the general, indignantly. "Now get the hell outta here ya dolt" and had the man marched away at a brisk pace.

For the next two days the ship remained exactly where it was. It did not move. It made no sound. It did absolutely nothing whilst a thousand newsmen gathered in front of it, laid mile upon mile of t.v. cables and who fought each other with savage fury trying to angle for the best shot of the first sighting of the alien creatures, assuming that the ship was manned... and for those two days the whole world watched and waited with baited breathe. But while the world watched and waited the real meeting was taking place three thousand miles away....

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"Well gentlemen shall we get down to business?" said the silvered haired man. At least he looked like a man and talked like a man. The fact was that everybody gathered in the room knew he wasn’t a man. He was an alien as were the beings to either side of him.